The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader. More specifically, the present invention relates to a magnetic card reader which can read magnetic cards having a plurality of formats.
In general, magnetic cards used with a magnetic card reader have a format standardized by JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) and ISO (International Standardization Organization). Therefore, only one processing pattern for encoding and decoding is employed in the case of recording and reproducing (regeneration) of magnetic data by firmware of a CPU loaded on the magnetic card reader. Accordingly, to use a non-standardized magnetic card, another magnetic card reader having firmware for a processing pattern corresponding to the non-standardized magnetic card must be available.
Also, some suggest a magnetic card reader with which magnetic cards having a plurality of formats can be used (e.g. Tokko S63-56578, Tokkai H2-130670 and Tokkai H8-138003). In this case, the magnetic card reader serids read-out magnetic data to a host computer without converting the format wherein the format of the magnetic card is determined, or a user selects the kind of a magnetic card by pressing buttons and the like.
However, the above magnetic card reader providing only one processing pattern for encoding and decoding cannot handle both a standardized magnetic card and a non-standardized magnetic card. In order to use magnetic cards having different formats, a magnetic card reader corresponding to each format is required; this is very costly. Also, if various magnetic card readers corresponding to different formats are provided, it is confusing for a user to determine a correct card reader for his/her magnetic card.
In the case of a magnetic card reader which can handle magnetic cards having a plurality of formats by using a host computer to determine the format of a card, enormous load of controlling the entire system is exerted on the host computer. Further, if an user needs to select the kind of a magnetic card by using buttons and the like, operation to use the card becomes complicated, which is not convenient for the user.
The present invention intends to provide a magnetic card reader which can determine the format of magnetic cards having a plurality of formats without a host computer.